Skip to main content

#52Ancestors 2022 January: Foundations

Week 1 and (just in case I don't make it any further this month) the January monthly prompt is: Foundations.

"August 21, 1983, Daddy & Lissa on the family room foundation"
from the Flattery family photo collection currently in the possession of the author.

Writing this during naptime on Sunday.

My dad retired a couple years ago. My parents put their house up for sale, and it sold in two weeks. It happened so fast they had to put everything into storage because they thought they'd have a couple months to figure out next steps. I begged for the family photos and docs. 

They brought me the totes of photo books and docs in 2021. I had never seen some of this stuff! Now some of that delay was the pandemic, they spent most of 2020 with my family in Georgia while there stuff was up in Massachusetts. Some of that is they don't want anyone to have their stuff. Haha. Well I scanned what I could and look at what I found.

Dad attended Silver Lake Regional Vocational High School in Kingston, MA from 1966-1969. He was part of the carpentry track and help build these homes. Foundations to me, is a literal house foundation, with my dad, in t-shirt and jeans with a hammer hanging off his hip, sawdust on the inside of his glasses and in his beard, pencil tucked over his ear. He has worked on every east coast place I have lived from the home I was brought home from the hospital to, to the house my son was brought home to here in Georgia. His to do list when he comes up from Florida in the spring includes fixing the door to the porch, again (sorry Dad) and repainting the gazebo by the pool. He likes to stay busy but needs a task list and a budget or things go wild fast. 

Queue the dad soundtrack! Home Depot music. 

Dad's Freshman year project house 1966: 

165 Dwelley St Pembroke, MA 1966
original student program from the collection of my grandmother Miriam Dolan Flattery passed down to my father, Stephen B. Flattery.
165 Dwelley St Pembroke, MA 2019
via Google Maps street view image capture Oct 2019 accessed 01.09.22

Dad's Sophomore year project house1967: 

Franklin St Halifax, MA 1967
  original student program from the collection of my grandmother Miriam Dolan Flattery passed down to my father, Stephen B. Flattery.

After digging around Google maps & Zillow I think this Realtor dot com 2012 image of 60 Franklin St comes closest, minus the garage. The area seems to have been bought up & rebuilt or had new houses added to it. This house was demolished and a new house was built in its place, so it may not be the right address. I will have to see if Dad will take a drive over there, he remembers everything.

Dad's Junior year project house 1968:

Brewster Ave Kingston, MA 1968
original student program from the collection of my grandmother Miriam Dolan Flattery passed down to my father, Stephen B. Flattery.
I found this on Google maps once before but can't find it right now. The deck was still there.

Dad's Senior year project:
Prospect Rd Plympton, MA built 1969,
original student program from the collection of my grandmother Miriam Dolan Flattery passed down to my father, Stephen B. Flattery.
I have not located a Google image of this house today.

Of the names listed with his, the only one I can recall him talking about is Albert "Al" Burbank. 
I guess I'll have to go call Dad and ask him some questions when the boy wakes up. If I find out new info I'll update the title. 




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Photo ID: My Dad visited Atlanta 68 Years ago

When we announced our move to the Atlanta area for work in 2016, my dad said "Oh, I've been there once, when I was a little kid, I think I had cousins there."  Fast forward four years and my parent's downsizing means all the family albums have come to me.  In going through photos from his childhood, we found these gems: My grandmother Miriam with her niece & my dad Check out the Chuck Taylors. These pictures are from 1953 at the top of Stone Mountain . I can totally see them walking up the side of the smooth rock, one mile trail, in chucks which have zero traction, with the kids leading the way. The mountain is 825 feet above the ground and 1686 above sea level. The one time I went up to the top (in the Skyride bc my parents cannot hike anymore) it was cold and foggy, with no visibility. On a clear day you can see something like 60 miles. The natural areas of the park around the rock are beautiful. The "entertainment park" is meh and the relief is an abo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 28 #52ancestors Transportation

Excuse the format, this one will be a bit of a brain dump as I've not had a free moment lately to write a proper post. 52 weeks prompt this week is: Transportation. On my dad's side, his mother's mother's father James Albert Adams was a wagoner in the US Army from 1870-1888. From records I've found he was driving officers around and helping deliver telegraph line building equipment. This is a fun rabbit hole posted by  Greg Krenzelok - Director - Historian of the  U.S. Army Veterinary Corps Historical Preservation Group  (facebook link) "The Duties of the U.S. Army Waggoner"  (rootsweb link) Also on my dad's side, his great grandfather on mom's father's side drove a wagon in his later years in Allston, MA & was actually run of the road by a car, the horse got spooked & flipped the wagon. If you've ever driven in Allston this resonates.  Dad's stepdad Chester Flattery drove trucks in the Korean war and when he came home worked fo...
Post a Comment
Read more

*Updated 10.22.22* 1937 Ossipee Center School play, Ossipee, New Hampshire

Black and white photo of a group of 3 rows of children of various ages in colonial costumes holding the Betsy Ross designed and sewn flag of 13 alternating stripes of red and white and circle of 13 white stars on the upper left solid blue field. Photo edge is marked "1937" in pen. On the back of this photo my great grandmother Jessie McIntosh Sturtevant wrote out their names as follows: 1937 Ossipee Center School play When Betsy Ross made Old Glory First row L-R Roland Wilkins Edwin French Jr Norman Remick Jr Harvey Emerson Raymond Perry Lenela Moody Madeline Goldsmith Dorothy Sturtevant* Esther Perry Barbara Emerson Second row L-R Violet Moody Flora Sturtevant* Theresa Goldsmith Vileta Moody Jean Sawyer John F. Harmon Joseph Nevers Harley Moody Back row L-R   Elmer Berry - Violin Miss Todd - Piano Helen Sturtevant* George Knapp - Mandolin Robert Sawyer Jr Hayes Sawyer Jr * Denotes grandmother and great aunts of this blogger. In 1937 Helen was 13, Flora was 10, an...
Post a Comment
Read more